The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights assessed on Monday that over 162,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict – with thousands more missing, presumably captured or kidnapped by the Bashar al-Assad regime – as divisions within the opposition camp deepened worries that the West was showing insufficient leadership in bolstering rebel forces seeking the regime’s overthrow. Al Arabiya reported the same day that Asaad Mustafa, the defense minister in the provisional government established by the opposition, was stepping down to protest insufficient support from abroad. The development was covered with something approaching ill-disguised satisfaction by Iranian outlets.

The actual status of the fighting has nonetheless proven difficult to untangle, with conflicting reports emerging from different parts of the country. Reports emerged on Sunday that rebels had captured the northwestern Syrian village of Tel Meleh in the Hama province, and the same day Reuters reported that the head of Syria’s Air Defense forces had been killed east of Damascus. Reuters at the same time noted that the regime was making steady advances in consolidating its control over central Syria.

From his base in Damascus, Bashar al-Assad can contemplate a broad sweep of Syria clawed back from rebels who once threatened to drive him out. The capital which they targeted is now plastered with posters inviting Syrians to reelect him president. Powerful foreign allies have helped Assad hold or retake a chain of cities which form the north-south backbone of the country, keep his grip on the Mediterranean coast to the west and restore control over the Lebanese border. The culmination of that slow, grinding military turnaround came last week with the final withdrawal of rebel fighters from Homs city, a month before the presidential election in which Assad faces no serious challenge.

[Photo: Freedom House / Flickr]